You can make a strong argument that pretty much every World Series winner has to have come kind of dumb luck fluke to make it all the way, in the case of the '05 Sox, the bullpen that season was RIDICULOUSLY good. But the '05 Sox were also the very best team in the American League, if not the Majors, for that season. What they did in 2004 and 2006 has no real bearing on the 2005 season, again, in which they were the very best.

If you want to argue special circumstances led to the demise of the Marlins' championship teams from 1997 and 2003, that's fine, I respect that. But I'll also note that neither the '97 Marlins or '03 Marlins were the best team in their own division for either of those years. I am envious of their success and ability to close the deal when they get there, but, when coupled with the way they keep bottoming out, I would have to say just a lot of luck lead to a lot of their success. Good for them, but still losers.

They weren't the best during the regular season, but the playoffs supercedes all of that. The Marlins proved themselves better than the Braves both years in the playoffs, and thus ultimately proved they were the best in their division even though they weren't division champs. World Series Champs wipes out division champs by a country mile.

Winning World Series is never a fluke. It takes more mettle than many realize. The 97 team was a solid group of mercenaries, and the 03 team may have been the most exciting WS winning team to watch. They aren't losers. Only the Yanks have won more WS since 1983, and the Marlins didn't even exist for the 1st 10 years.

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MRKARNO04-04-2005, 04:03 PM
I was a doubter, but maybe, just maybe we can win with pitching, defense and fundamentals.